Private surveillance companies flock to Arizona’s annual Border Security Expo

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/14/private-surveillance-companies-flock-to-arizonas-annual-border-security-expo-for-their-slice-of-multi-billion-dollar-industry/

Private surveillance companies flock to Arizona’s annual Border Security Expo for their slice of multi-billion dollar industry


From a distance, it looked like Wyatt Nease was using a handset to operate a remote control car. However, the small wheeled vehicle zipping across the carpet was not a child’s toy but the very adult Pointman Tactical Robot.

“Swat teams absolutely love it,” said Nease, an unmanned systems specialist with Applied Research Associates. “You can throw it through windows and doors, it goes up stairs, it’s self-righting. We can mount 12-gauge shotguns on it, so we can weaponize it as well.”

The Pointman is one of the star attractions in the seventh annual Border Security Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona. The trade show is a festival of surveillance and combat technology and a chance for the private sector to pitch their wares to federal agencies with multi-billion dollar budgets.

The location is no accident: Arizona is key to the US government’s immense efforts to secure the almost 2,000-mile-long frontier with Mexico. According to Department of Homeland Security statistics, 123,285 people were apprehended near Tucson in 2011 as they attempted to cross the border illegally, out of a nationwide total of 340,252. The effort has been given added urgency by Barack Obama’s second-term push for comprehensive immigration reform, with the president offering tightened border security to secure Republican support for his proposals.